Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Gilbert Rist

Gilbert Rist was a Swiss professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a thought leader of postdevelopment theory. He was best known for his study, The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith, which criticizes development and has been described as “to date, the most consequential and scholarly critique from the left of the development project”. Rist held a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International Studies.

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Gilbert Rist (16 July 1938 – 15 February 2023) was a Swiss professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva and a thought leader of postdevelopment theory.1 He was best known for his study, The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith, which criticizes development and has been described as “to date, the most consequential and scholarly critique from the left of the development project”.234 Rist held a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International Studies.5

Rist died on 15 February 2023, at the age of 84.6

Writings

English

  • Gilbert Rist, The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith, Expanded Edition, London: Zed Books, 2003
  • Gilbert Rist, The Delusions of Economics: The Misguided Certainties of a Hazardous Science, London: Zed Books, 2011

French (selection)

  • (with Marie-Dominique PERROT and Fabrizio SABELLI), La mythologie programmée, L’économie des croyances dans la société moderne, coll. Economie en liberté, PUF, Paris, 1992
  • (with Majid Rahnema and Gustavo Esteva), Le Nord perdu, Repères pour l’après-développement, coll. Forum du développement, Editions d’En Bas, Lausanne, 1992
  • Le développement, Histoire d'une croyance occidentale, Presses de Sciences Po, Paris, 1996 - also translated into Italian and Spanish
  • L'économie ordinaire entre songes et mensonges, Presses de Sciences Po, Paris, 2010
References

References

  1. "Articles from journals". www.sociostudies.org. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  2. Brinkerhoff, Jennifer M. (October 2002). "Review: The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith". Economic Development and Cultural Change. 51 (1). doi:10.1086/344040.
  3. "Book Review: The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith by Gilbert Rist". LSE Review of Books. 2014-09-07. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  4. Rieff, David. "An American Passion for Tyrants | David Rieff". ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  5. Rist, Gilbert, ed. (1978). Image du Tiers Monde et conceptions du développement: une étude des documents des organisations suisses de coopération au développement. Saint-Saphorin: Editions Georgi. ISBN 978-2-604-00035-8.
  6. En hommage à Gilbert Rist Archived 2023-02-27 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
External links
See also

See also